Mashrafe Bin Mortaza says ‘Don’t need to go after Mushfiqur Rahim’
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Sakeb Subhan from London
Thu Jun 6, 2019 04:02 AM
Last update on: Fri Jun 7, 2019 11:25 AM

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A big talking point surrounding Bangladesh's two-wicket loss to New Zealand was established long before the result, when wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim negated a sure run out of Kane Williamson by dislodging the bails with his elbows when trying to intercept a throw from Tamim Iqbal at mid on that was heading for the stumps anyway.

New Zealand were then 60 for two, and Ross Taylor and Williamson's eventual 105-run third-wicket stand was then just five runs old. The knives were out for Mushfiqur because it has long been perceived that his keeping errors had cost Bangladesh at crucial junctures.

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"Mushy, I don't think we need to go after him," Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said in the post-match press conference when asked whether Mushfiqur's keeping was up to the mark. "It could happen with anybody but he was also trying hard to get him [Williamson]. That throw was straight but as a keeper it was very difficult to know if it was straight or not. He wanted to take the ball and suddenly it [the stumps] hit his elbow. That sort of mistake happens, but I don't think we should go after him."

The question was a pointed one because Bangladesh have two other wicketkeepers in the squad. Mohammad Mithun was part of the eleven and the jury is out about his keeping abilities compared to Mushfiqur's, but Liton Das -- on the bench for the first two matches of the World Cup -- is generally perceived to be among the two best keepers in Bangladesh, the other being Nurul Hasan. In Bangladesh's 21-run win over South Africa on Sunday, Mushfiqur had dropped a straightforward chance off South Africa opener Quinton de Kock, but the error was forgotten because the South African ambled out of his crease and Mushfiqur managed to throw down the stumps and run him out.

"If you don't score big you have to take these chances. It's part of the game, it happens. No one wants to make these mistakes, but I think the big mistakes were done in batting. Getting set and getting out. If we could have scored 25-30 runs more, it could have been a different match, because the outfield was slower than other matches."

It was not the only run out of which Mushfiqur found himself on the wrong side; he was run out soon after putting on a 50-run third-wicket stand with Shakib Al Hasan earlier in the day, and Mashrafe identified that rather than the let-off of Williamson as the turning point.

"Turning point was that run out. Because they were both set, and then Shakib and Mithun got a 41-run partnership and then Shakib got out. Those two partnerships, if they got going -- to 80 or 100, it could have been a different score."

Even before the start of the World Cup, Mashrafe as the captain and elder statesman of the team has been eager to shield his players from pressure and his defence of Mushfiqur could be seen as an extension of that. However, while answering another question over bowling Shakib for seven overs up front and not having enough of the ace all-rounder in the middle and at the end, Mashrafe revealed just how important that wicket was.

"The plan was to bring in Shakib because the right-hander was there and the new ball was gripping a bit," Mashrafe said. "So we thought that if it's gripping, Shakib can play the role. Shakib got us a wicket [that of Martin Guptill off the first ball he bowled in the fifth over] and we knew we had to get either one of Ross Taylor or Williamson out; that is why Shakib bowled a bigger spell, because we really wanted one wicket in that particular time."

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One of the recurring themes of Bangladesh's World Cup campaign has been the disappointing performance of the one batsman most fans would have been looking at to set the biggest stage alight for the Tigers. Tamim Iqbal averaged 57.06 between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, but on the biggest stage, he managed 235 runs at an average of 29.37 from eight games. A player who takes great pride in performance and the legacy he will leave behind in Bangladesh cricket, the meagre returns frustrated Tamim throughout the event, even though it was his most successful World Cup in terms of runs scored. Yesterday, as the Tigers prepared to make their way back from the UK, Tamim spoke to The Daily Star's Sakeb Subhan about his disappointment and the need to move past it. The following are excerpts of the interview:

 

The Daily Star (TDS): Are you disappointed with your performance in the World Cup?

Tamim Iqbal (TI): Yes, very disappointed. In the sense that, after what happened in 2015, I have been preparing myself for 2019. In these four years I've had a lot of success. And then, even in Ireland I did really well. But I think that as soon as the World Cup started, I took a lot of pressure on myself. Just thinking that I don't go back to 2015 again. It is very easy for anyone who reads this to come and ask me why are you thinking like this, you have scored so many runs. But only I know what is going on inside. My nightmare was going back to 2015, what happened in 2015, how I suffered and my family suffered.

TDS: By that you mean the outside pressure after you dropped a catch against England and also some inconsistency with the bat?

TI: The outburst that happened was very new for me then. I couldn't handle it at that time. And then how the family suffered, and all of that. I knew very well that the World Cup is a tournament that makes even those who do not follow cricket start following; that's how big the event is. I think that is what killed me at the beginning. I took a lot of pressure on myself; I wanted to prove a point… not prove a point, I wanted to do really well.

And in these four years, the success I got, I never tried to prove to anyone. I just went there, batted and things happened. But here, I put so much pressure on myself to succeed that it hampered me. I was actually looking to get  a score in the first two games. That's very important for me. The 62 I scored [against Australia], if I could have scored that in the first two games, it could have been a different thing mentally. I think that is why I find it disappointing. The trolling, the criticism is part of my life. I need to accept it. I think that I have dealt with it much better than I did in 2015. What bothered me was myself. I lost to myself.

TDS: What bothered you more, that you couldn't score runs or the pressure you put on yourself?

TI: I took a lot of pressure to score runs. I had to score… I had to score. If you try too hard to do something, it doesn't happen. I really am not someone who has a bad tournament and will then come and give excuses, but actually I was very unlucky in this tournament. There were three to four dismissals where I couldn't do anything. The Cottrell runout, the three chop-ons. It had nothing to do with my technique. There were one or two dismissals which I regret… England and New Zealand. The first game [against South Africa] was a very good delivery, the last game [against Pakistan] was a good delivery. Surprisingly, though I didn't score runs, I actually batted really well. It wasn't as if I was being beaten or struggling. Whenever I batted, everybody thought – myself included – that this is the day probably. I went there and played a couple of nice shots and then it just happened. The good thing is I don't take the past innings with me when I am batting. I started panicking more because I was getting out after one mistake. I actually lost patience with myself. I wondered what the hell is happening. I talked to Neil and he said you cannot do anything. After the first two games I went to [batting coach] Neil [McKenzie] and said 'let's shoot my batting and see if there is anything technical'. Then he told me 'I wish I could tell you something', there was nothing. He said 'it's basically the same, you've done this'.

There are two positives from this. One was the processes that got me success, the way I batted and the processes I did before the game, I did exactly the same. In such situations, there will be people giving you all kind of advice: 'Go and attack', 'if this is not working you should bat like this or that'. That is the worst possible thing I could have done. Because after not scoring in two matches, if I went down the wicket to the first ball, or swung my bat around and then got out, then that would have the worst possible thing. The best thing I did was I never changed. I batted exactly the same way when I scored a lot runs and when I didn't score a lot runs – from game 1 to game 8 – I batted the same way.

TDS: When you say the same way, do you mean the changed Tamim who aims to bat till the 40th over?

TI: The aim is to bat deep. Sometimes, with the way I start… I will take time when I start the innings. When I am batting on 40 or 50, I make up the time I took. I have a lot of confidence in myself, the team, the coaching staff have a lot of confidence in me. It's not like I have done it for 10 games; I have done it for 50 games. Unfortunately I never got to that stage in this World Cup. People will say that there are a lot of ifs and buts, but it does not bother me because I know what I was trying to do. The other positive is that in my bad times, if I am averaging 30, I am pretty happy.

TDS: A lot of criticism has come because of your changed role, from swashbuckler to someone who bats all the way through.

TI: My role also has changed and, though it is a World Cup, I batted exactly the same way for the last five years. The way I batted actually helped the team to win. It doesn't bother me what people think. Changing myself because some people think a certain way is the worst possible thing I could do. What I do is not easy. My point is, if something has worked for me for a number of years, why should I change it? The people who understand cricket will understand what I went through and the people who don't understand cricket, will always criticise. And I am completely fine with it; I think I have come out of that space in 2015. There were high expectations, for me too, because I took myself to that level. It hurts a lot, but I need to come out of it.

TDS: You say that you have lost to yourself but also that the frustrations did not hamper you in the middle. Where did it affect you?

TI: It didn't affect me when I was batting. It affected me before the game – two days before the game. When playing a match, what you're doing in the middle is important but there are other important things. How mentally relaxed you are a day before, how positively you are thinking, all this adds to your batting. If you are not in a good mental space when you are going out to bat, it sometimes definitely hurts you and definitely affects your game. I took a lot of pressure to perform. It was not about social media or people writing about me, it was me who was the problem.

TDS: Did the dropped catch of Rohit Sharma add to the pressure?

TI: The catch drop didn't bother me either. I dropped the catch and felt bad for a couple of overs and I was up and running in two overs' time. I was going into the hot position to field. I was cheering when wickets were falling. I was probably the first one to go to Mustafizur when he took five wickets. Dropped catches are part of cricket. It was an important catch, I understand. A lot of criticism came after the dropped catch. Going forward, I will be taking a lot of good catches and I will also be dropping catches.

TDS: With three wins out of eight matches, how would you rate Bangladesh's performance?

TI: I thought it was a disappointing performance. We definitely had our moments and our chances. I could answer that question by saying that it was a very positive tournament, we pushed the best teams to the limit, but I think that we as a team have come out of that position. Just playing well is not our target. Playing well and winning games is our target. If you think in that way, we are number seven. If South Africa win we become number eight. So you cannot say it was a great campaign.

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New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra did not exactly hit the ground running on his international breakout but went on to become one of the standout performers in his debut World Cup, setting records in his own way. The 24-year-old had a quiet tour of Bangladesh, not getting a game in the Test series but he has been keeping a keen eye on things. As he spoke with Abdullah Al Mehdi of The Daily Star after the recently concluded second Test, he discussed the Kiwi side's atmosphere, a terrific maiden World Cup, the Mirpur wicket, and more.

DS: You've played in Bangladesh before. Tell us of your overall experience.

RR: I guess it's pretty contrasting. Being able to play in different formats in conditions so different from home has been quite cool. Obviously, it's tough cricket, but I think that develops your game and makes you a better cricketer at the end of the day. I think it's nice to have a drawn series. It was a reflection of the way the two games went. So, yeah, it's always cool to visit Bangladesh.

DS: Your approach to a controversial wicket like Mirpur?

RR: I always think that in Test cricket, you want results and you want to be given the opportunity to win or lose a game of cricket.

In terms of criticism, I think it's good for us as players. Yeah, you might not get the runs you wanted, and maybe a good score isn't 150-180 in Test matches. For me, 50 or 60 [individually] is a really good score. So, I think bringing back your expectation on that [is required]. And, hey, as an international cricketer, you have to play on different surfaces around the world.

DS: The secret to your confidence shown in the India World Cup?

RR: I guess it was pretty surreal. The way it all happened, the freedom came from the environment, being able to express myself as a cricketer. That, too, with guys who are so reliable. Obviously better with Devon [Conway] in that first game [England]. He's a world-class cricketer. I've spent a lot of time with him; one of my closest mates. That's what's been important here in terms of our New Zealand environment. Everyone's kind of 'be yourself and play the game' that you believe is going to help the team. During that World Cup, I guess I was lucky enough to be in situations where I could take the game on, and it all sort of worked out luckily.

DS: Does a sense of community separate the New Zealand team from others?

RR: It's hard to speak for different international sides, obviously. Speaking for the New Zealand one, I guess we're all sort of good mates; we enjoy sharing the field, enjoy each other's company off the field. We always like to have a laugh and a joke and stuff. But I guess at the end of the day, we all understand what the common goal and objective is: being able to push the team forward. All the personal accolades, runs, wickets etc., will come as part of that.

DS: You talked about Conway. How about Williamson or Southee as mentors?

RR: I've spent time with Timmy [Tim Southee] and Kano [Kane Williamson] the last couple of years, but obviously not as much as I have with Dev [Devon Conway] and [Tom] Blundell. But they're all such great mentors.

The way they carry themselves on and off the field, how level they are, and how competitive they are and how they go about their processes. There's a reason why they've played international cricket for the better part of a decade and had so much success with this team. So, I think you do whatever you can to learn from them. They're like awesome teammates to share the field with. Amazing mentors and such great students of the game, they teach you the game.

DS: Did you get to consult Williamson even before making the team?

RR: No. I think it was just watching from afar and being able to observe and what he did was cool. As a kid watching them play, you're like, 'wow one day you could be involved with these guys'. So, it's definitely a special feeling.

DS: During your formative years, have you looked up to someone like Shakib Al Hasan?

RR: Yeah obviously, Shakib's done a lot of his time. [Ravindra] Jadeja too. People who bowl left-arm spin and bat left-handed are always ones you're gonna have a little affinity towards, but personally I didn't necessarily follow around as I wanted to be like [Daniel] Vettori, and really wanted to bat like Sachin [Tendulkar], [Rahul] Dravid, [Ricky] Ponting, [Brian] Lara, all those guys.

I guess from New Zealand, I really loved watching Ross Taylor bat. He was my favourite growing up. And then, obviously, through teenage years you see what Kane sort of did and you want to be like Kane.

DS: Where do you see yourself as an all-format all-rounder?

RR: I guess if you ask most people around me, they'd probably say, 'he shows maybe a little more interest in his batting or is more of a batting all-rounder', which I think is true right now, but I want to continue trying to be a genuine all-rounder in the future -- one who is very valuable for a team if you have someone in the top three who can bowl four overs in the T20s, 10 in one-dayers or long spells in a red ball game.

I guess it's cool always being involved. Even if you don't necessarily get the runs you want with the bat, you can have an effect on the game with the ball, and vice versa. So that's what interests me about the all-rounder tag.

DS: Disappointing at not making the Test eleven?

RR: I think the thing with the Black Caps Test side at the moment is there's a lot of guys in front of me who have done it for a number of years, who have amassed great records and have contributed so much to the team. For me it's about not being impatient.

I'm young enough and will end up playing a lot of cricket, whatever might happen. But I think it's understanding that the guy in front of me is a very, very good cricketer, so it's just the nature of the beast. It's so good to see someone like Glenn [Phillips] come back in and gets a man of the match. Yeah, definitely watching them here was about a learning curve whether you're playing or not.

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I am lost for words. I can’t believe what has happened. I can’t get my head around it. I thought it was gone needing 30 off 16. It has probably been the best day for cricket in this country. I feel like everything that has happened today is destiny.

Chris Woakes

England fast bowler.

 

I’m pretty lost for words,” he says. “All the hard words that’s gone in over these four years, this is where we aspired to be. To do it with such a game, I don’t think there will be another like this in the history of cricket. Jos and I knew if we’d be there close to the end, New Zealand would be under pressure. Not the way I wanted to do it, ball going off my bat like that, I apologised to Kane. We backed the new kid, Jofra Archer, the talent that he’s got, he showed the world today. The lads, in this one-day team, the Test team, my family, their support has been massive. Now I’m just looking forward to tonight, mate.

Ben Stokes

England all-rounder

 

We knew we would have to fire a few shots. Credit to England for the way they stuck at it. On another day the coin may have fallen our way. We’ll look back in a couple of years and say this was a pretty good experience. That’s the way we are as Kiwis, we get par scores and then scrap like hell. We don’t blast teams off the park.

Jimmy Neesham.

New Zealand all-rounder

 

Was pretty sure I was going to bowl it. Just had a chat with Morgs (starts chuckling) heart’s still racing, sorry. It’s probably the only tournament I’ve ever won in my life. From the beginning, the guys did so well. Would have been disappointed if we didn’t win. They’ve been a really good family to me.

Jofra Archer

England bowler

 

Hasn’t sunk in yet. What a finish that was. Hats off to the Kiwi boys. Over the moon.

Liam Plunkett

England bowler

 

I thought I’d seen everythign in cricket, and that game was just ridiculous. Hard to put it in words. We wanted to take it deep. We didn’t feel like the run rate would be an issue if we were both there in the end. A couple of good partnerships, we’ll chase this down. Trying to put pressure back on New Zealand. Don’t know what happened there in the end. Unbelievable.

Jos Buttler

England wicketkeeper-batsman

 

Massive commiserations to the New Zealand boys. Edges one way, edges another. The way the guys came back in the Super Over was fantastic, and Stokes was huge. To play at Lord’s is one thing, to play a World Cup final at Lord’s is something else.

Jonny Bairstow

England batsman

 

There’s not one person who has left the ground. This is exactly what cricket needed. In five or six years’ time, there’ll be kids in the street who were inspired by Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler.

Michael Vaughan

Former England cricketer

 

Don’t understand how the game of such proportions, the #CWC19Final, is finally decided on who scored the most boundaries. A ridiculous rule @ICC. Should have been a tie. I want to congratulate both @BLACKCAPS & @englandcricket on playing out a nail biting Final. Both winners imo.

Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian cricketer

 

I don’t agree with that rule ! But rules are rules congratulations to England on finally winning the World Cup, my heart goes out for the kiwis they fought till the end. Great game an epic final!!!! #CWC19Final

Yuvraj Singh

Former Indian cricketer

 

This game will go down as one of the best matches in history. Congratulations to @englandcricket on your maiden @cricketworldcup title. Never be down @BLACKCAPS, you fought like champions. #CWC19Final

Sir Vivian Richards

Former West Indies cricketer

 

England held their nerve under pressure. New Zealand will be devastated for the rest of their careers because they had an opportunity to win the World Cup. They’ll have respect for Eoin Morgan because England play incredibly brave cricket. They were beaten by a team that, when the pressure was on, they found a way to get across the line.

Brendon McCullum

Former New Zealand captain

 

I’m a wreck. I don’t know what to say. It’s completely unfathomable. The commitment, the effort, the drive, the determination, the hunger those guys showed under the upmost pressure, it was just extraordinary to watch. The greatest game of cricket in history! And it was in a Lord’s World Cup final.

Andrew Strauss

Former England captain

 

England have been the best side through this tournament, I believe, but today I think New Zealand were the best team. The rub of the green went to England. Just think about it for a second -- everyone said it was overcast, bowl first, but Kane Williamson had the courage to bat first and trust his game plan. They got a score and defended that score to a tie -- a deflection off Stokes’s bat for four, they win the game if that doesn’t happen.

Shane Warne

Former Australia spinner

 

I can’t believe it. England tied the match and then they tied the Super Over and then they win on countback. You go through seven weeks and it comes down to a bloke trying to dive in to try and win the World Cup.

Nasser Hussain

Former England captain

 

I am lost for words. I can’t believe what has happened. I can’t get my head around it. I thought it was gone needing 30 off 16. It has probably been the best day for cricket in this country. I feel like everything that has happened today is destiny.” -- England fast bowler Chris Woakes.

“Wow! It’s hard to sum it up. What a day, what a tournament. Everyone has done everything asked of them. We have performed under pressure, it was almost written in the stars for Ben Stokes. He’s had such a tough time, I’m so proud of him and pleased for him and his family.

Joe Root

England batsman

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Bangladesh team were in a festive mood in Napier, having spent a two-day Christmas break ahead of their three-match T20I series against hosts New Zealand starting tomorrow with the first game at McLean Park.

Having ended the three-match ODI series with their first-ever win against New Zealand on Kiwi soil, the Tigers were in a good mood. Liton Das, Shoriful Islam, and a few others roamed around the coastal city on New Zealand's North Island, enjoying the scenic beauty.

The Tigers then attended a team dinner later in the evening yesterday.

Former Bangladesh opener Al Shahriar Rokon, who now lives in Napier, visited the cricketers at the Scenic Hotel.

Although Bangladesh lost the three-match ODI series 2-1, skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and his troops will be confident after registering a dominating nine-wicket win in the final ODI, in which they bundled the Kiwis out for their lowest-ever ODI total against the Tigers -- courtesy of a fiery bowling display from the pacers.

The ODI triumph by the Tigers following a historic triumph in the longest format in New Zealand the previous year when Bangladesh won a Test against the hosts at Mount Maunganui.

However, it will be a tough task for the Tigers in T20Is. Bangladesh have managed only three wins against the Kiwis in 17 T20Is, with all those victories coming on home soil. The Tigers suffered defeats in all the nine T20Is they played against New Zealand in New Zealand.

One thing that would give the Tigers some belief and hope is the fact that they have experienced a turn of fortunes in the format this year. Apart from the three T20Is played in the Asian Games, Bangladesh played all their remaining eight T20Is this year at home and won seven of them, including a 3-0 whitewash of the defending champions England.

This will be the Tigers' first and only T20I series overseas in 2023 and the challenge for Najmul Hossain Shanto and Chandika Hathurusingha-led Bangladesh will be to prove their mettle in the format overseas by registering their first-ever T20I win against the Kiwis in their backyard.

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Just as he entered the Basin Reserve Stadium in Wellington, the venue for Bangladesh's second Test against host New Zealand, Mushfiqur Rahim looked up at the heavens, muttered something under his breath and joined his team mates for the warm up session yesterday.

It was at the Basin Reserve that the experienced cricketer and then captain smashed a magnificent 159 in the first Test against the Kiwis back in 2017 and, along with Shakib Al Hasan, added a record 359-run fifth-wicket stand for the Tigers.

In the second innings of that game the wicketkeeper-batsman sustained a blow on the back of his helmet off a Tim Southee bouncer and collapsed, laid on the ground for over 15 minutes before being taken off the field by an ambulance to a nearby hospital.

Despite posting a huge 595 for nine declared in their first innings, shockingly, the visitors went on to lose the game by seven wickets on the fifth day.

Two years on, the Tigers are once again in a desperate situation after losing the first Test by an innings and 52 runs in Hamilton. In the absence of regular Test skipper Shakib Al Hasan, who is also suffering from injury, it was Mushfiqur whom the team management would have wanted desperately in the middle order for stability.

Going back to yesterdays' training Mushfiqur looked determined and positive when he walked towards the outer nets, where he started batting drills after 13 days' gap since suffering multiple injuries in the third ODI.

He started the drill with soft rubber balls before switching to knocking against the cricket ball.

But just when he started middling his shots, Mushfiqur experienced pain in his injured wrist and went over to physio Thihan Chandramohan and informed him of his discomfort.

Although Mushfiqur's body language remained normal -- he was still smiling broadly with teammates after completing the batting drill -- Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes eventually revealed that the cricketer is 'extremely doubtful' for the second Test starting tomorrow.

"The situation with Mushy [Mushfiqur] is that he is trying his best to be fit as quick as possible for the Test matches. Today was his first drill hit with some tennis ball, rubber ball and he finished with some cricket ball work. When he got to the cricket ball there was still a little bit of soreness in that ligament area so it means he will be extremely doubtful for the second Test.

"It will take an amazing recovery overnight but we all hold out all the time for Mushy, but the good news may be that he is on course for the third Test. Let's hope there are no setbacks along the way," Rhodes told reporters after the training session yesterday.

Known for his determination and passion for the game, a disappointed Mushfiqur blamed his luck but was still hoping for a miracle.

"I still have some pain on my injured wrist area," Mushfiqur told The Daily Star. "Let's see I will bat tomorrow [Thursday] as well and after assessing my conditions the team management will give the final call, but it looks difficult. Obviously, I desperately want to return to the field as I have some good memories of this ground," he added.

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